Liquid control means for air conditioning apparatus



March 22, 193s. 4 C, R, NEE-ON 2,111,570

LIQUID CONTROL MEANS FOR-A1B CONDITIONING APPARATUS Filed July 15, 1935 2 Sheets-Sheet l o o o o o o o 0 o o o o o o INVENTOR C Z. NEEON c. R. NEEsoN 2,111,570

' LIQUID CONTROL MEANS FOR AIR CONDITIONING AIPARATUS March 22, 1938.

Filed July 15, 1953 2 Sheets-Sheet 2 INVENTOR Patented Mar. 22, 1938 UNITED STATES LIQUID CONTROL MEANS AIR COND TIONING APPARATUS Charles R. Neeson, New Rochelle, N. Y., assignor to. Baldwin-Southwark Corporation, a corporation of Delaware Application July 15, 1933, Serial No. 680,642.

13 Claims.

This invention relates generally tol air conditioning apparatus and more particularly to improved means for disposing of condensed moisture on an evaporator used in the refrigerating 5 system of this apparatus.

It is of course well-known that in air conditioning equipment a. considerable amount of moisture may be extracted from the room air which is constantly circulated over the evaporator, this mois.

l ture condensing upon the evaporator to drip therefrom. It is not only desirable to collect the dripping water but also. to dispose of the same in a highly eiiicient manner. This is particularly true in self-contained room cooler units of the l type employing an'air cooled condenser, such a type being shown in my Patent 2,081,553. In such an air cooled condenser system, it is desirable to have the condensate effectively discharged into the stream of condenser air to be conveyed away thereby. It is also desirable to have this water sprayed, so to speak, over the surface of the condenser so as to obtain, as far as possible, evaporationof the moisturerby the heated condenser, thereby supplementing the cooling action of the air which preferably is drawn from the outside, passed over the condenser, and discharged back to the. outside.

It is one object of my invention to accomplish the foregoing results by improved means whereby air is used in a positive manner in the discharge of liquid into the air stream. Another object is to provide improved means whereby the normal circulation of air through the self-contained air conditioning unit, preferably of the room unit type, is used in an improved manner to effect discharge of the condensate from a suitable tray or other receptacle.

A further object is to provide improved means whereby ilow of air directly assists in effecting 4:0 displacement of liquid from its normal level in the receptacle while more specifically it is an object of my invention to provide means whereby this air flow causes liquid in the receptacle to be` agitated and preferably to have the liquid broken up into relatively small particles during such agitation. Another object in this respect is to provide an improved combination whereby the agitated or displaced liquid in the- (ci. s2-129) preferably an inverted half circle or of substantially equivalent form for redirecting the upward flow of air downwardly into the condensate within the receptacle thereby to cause the redirected air n to blow the condensate forcibly into the free upward flow of air passing through the adjacent opening in the receptacle.

Another object is to provide an improved arrangement and location of said air reversing defiectors whereby the liquid in the trays will be effectively disposed of even though the unit or trays may not be perfectly level, thus causing liquid to run toward one end of the tray or the other. While I have specifically shown my deflectors as extending for the full length of the trays, yet it will be understood that short lengths of the deectors may be disposed over various openings of the trays either along one line of openings or over a series of openings in staggered relation. I preferably provide said deflector as a solid imperforate member, although if desired various small openings may be provided therein or the lower down-turned edge or edges of the deflector may be jagged, but in a more specific aspect of the invention I have supplemented the. imperforate deiiector with a screen which overlies the deilector preferably in slightly spaced; relation thereto and with the edges of such screen disposedy preferably below the normal liquid level in the receptacle whereby air blowing outwardly beneath the lower edges of the deilector will pass upwardly partially vthrough the screen, thereby breaking up the liquid into smaller drops. These relatively small drops which simulate a spray may be easily evaporated upon engaging the condenser. l

Another object is to provide an improved system of condensate collecting and disposal means having any or al1 of the foregoing characteristics adapted to be used either when the air conditioning apparatus is used as a room heater or room cooler, such as disclosed in Galson Patent 2,052,561, wherein the direction of refrigerant iiow through the heat exchange elements may be reversed to cause the room air to circulate over what would now be the condenser and the outside air to circulate over what would now be the evaporator. In this event moisture condensed from the outside air flows over to the ltray beneaththe other heat exchange element and is discharged upwardly against the hot surface thereof to be evaporated and carried into the room air to humidify the same.

Other objects and advantages will be more apparent to those skilled in the art from the following description of the accompanying drawings in which:

Fig. 5 is a plan view of the trays beneath the condenser and evaporator taken substantially on the line 5-5 of Fig. l; f

Fig. 6 is a vertical longitudinal section taken substantially on the line 6-6 of Fig.l l;- 1

Fig. 7 is a further modification of the deflector.

In the illustrated embodiments oi' my invention which are shown herein merely for the purpose of disclosing certain specific forms among others that the invention might take, I employ preferably a self-contained air conditioning room unit having any suitable refrigeratingsystem including a compressor not shown and a pair of complementary heat exchange elements I and 2. The unit will herein be described primarily as a room cooler unit wherein the heat exchange element I functions as the evaporator and element 2 as the condenser, although it will of course be understood that these functions are interchanged when tile unit serves as a heater. Air from a given source, such as a room, is normally circulated preferably in a vertical direction over the evaporator I by suitable blower mechanism generally indicated at 3 while outside air is conducted through any suitable opening in the wall of the room such as a Window and thence flows inwardly of the unit wherein the air is discharged upwardly by a blower 4 over the condenser 2and thence discharged away from the room through a suitable duct to the outside. The outside flow of air prefer'ably has twice the volume and velocity over the condenser 2 that the room air has over the evaporator I. However, this does not affect the mode of operation of my improved condensate costrol means which herein specifically comprises trays 5 and 6 disposed beneath the condenser and evaporator preferably in relatively close relation thereto. y

The trays 5 and Ii as shown in Fig. 2 comprise preferably a series of troughs 1 disposed substantially parallel to each other and having air passages 8 therebetween. The edges 8 of the tray may be suitably secured to the walls of the air passages either by soldering or brackets. 'I'hese troughs or depressions may be interconnected at certain longitudinal intervals as by cross-pieces I0, thereby providing preferably a series of short lengths of air openings 8 although as shown in my other applications, these openings may if desired be continuous from end to end of the trays or they may be localized in one area as by providing a circular trough.

'I'he moisture in the room air which condenses on the evaporator I drips downwardly into the series of troughs 1 and the air iiows upwardly through passages 8. The water'that accumulates in tray 5 then-flows over into tray 6 which receives the condensate from the evaporator -through any suitable interconnecting pipe or passage II, Fig. 5. The tray 6 is constructed identically to the one shown in Fig. 2 and both sets of trays are provided specifically 'with two sets of `the water to build up as at I2 against one wall of the adjacent opening 8. 'I'he continual flow of air downwardly into this water will force the same into the flow of air through the adjacent opening 8. 'Ihe uncovered one of passages 8 has of course an entraining action for all water that might flow over its top edge but this entraining action is considerably augmented by the improved dcflector arrangement. In addition to increasing this entraining action, the redirected air breaks up the Water into drops, thus permitting it to be more eii'ectively entrained in the upward ilow of air. However, to eiect even greater breaking up oi' the -water so as to more nearly simulate a fine spraying action, there is provided a screen generally indicated at I4 of inverted semi-cylindrical form secured at its top to the defiector I2 while the lower portions of the s creen are preferably slightly spaced from the Wall of the deiiector and the ends of the screen project preferably at least on a level with the lower edge of the deilector I2, although if desired the edges of the screen may project below the edges of the deilector. As a result oi this screen, the air tends to force the water not only outwardly around the lower edge of the deiiector and screen but also upwardly between the deiiector and screen, thereby breaking the water up into very small drops which may be easily entrained in the upward flow of air. This is particularly desirable especially when disposed immediately below the air cooled condenser 2 as the spray tends to effectively cool the condenser in addition to the air cooling as the heat of the condenser is adapted to transform the small drops into vapor, thereby obtaining the cooling action of the heated vaporization of the liquid which is not ordinarily possible in usual water cooled condensers.

, As shown in Fig. 3, the deilector I2 may be supported in any suitable manner such as by a series of brackets I3 soldered or otherwise suitably secured to the raised portion I0 of the tray. 'I'his bracket serves not only as a support for the deflector I2 but also as a means of insuring proper spacing thereof.

Asalso shown in Fig. 5 the deiiectors I2, and their cooperating screens if so desired, extend preferably for the full length of the tray, although if desired these defiectors may be made in short lengths and disposed over various of the openings 8. In any event, it is seen that even though the tray may not be exactly level so that water might accumulate in one end or the other of the tray, my improved deiiector will cause eiilcient discharge of the liquid from the tray. Of course, any liquid that might be thrown upwardly against the evaporator I will immediately drop back due to the cold surface of the evaporator but liquid thrown against the condenser will be vaporized or 4 to provide a splitter I1. This defiector is disposed longitudinally over any one or a series of the air passages 8 with the splitter l1 preferably on the center line thereof, although if desired a one side deflector I8 may be employed as shown in Fig. 7.

It will'be noted that the deector I3 as shown in Fig. 1 is disposed over the middle one of three adjacent air passages 8 while thedeflector I2 is disposed over the air passage adjacent one side of the trough, thereby providing only the center free air passage 8 for taking care of the water forced out. This arrangement has the advantage of insuring even distribution of the spray thrown upwardly from the trays by the deiiectors.

From the foregoing disclosure it is seen that I have provided a relatively simple and yet highly effective means for insuring proper collecting and disposal of the condensed moisture and that this improved arrangement permits a relatively small volume of air iiow and air velocity to carry away the condensate whether the same be blown against the hot evaporator or discharged directly to the outside. Also it is seen that my improved arrangement may be employed with either one or two of the heat exchange lelements.

It will of course be understood by those skilled in the art that various changes may be made in the details of construction and arrangement of parts without departing from the spirit of the invention as `set forth in the appended claims.l

I claim: i

1. Air conditioning apparatus comprising, in combination, an evaporator, means for circulating air thereover from a given source, a liquid receptacle for receiving condensate from said evaporator and having air openings therethrough, means whereby air is circulated through said openings and is then discharged away from said source of air, and means for redirecting flow of air through said openings downwardly into the liquid portion of said receptacle to agitato the liquid therein and cause it to be carried away in the flow of said air.

2. Air conditioning apparatus comprising, in combination, an evaporator, means for circulating air thereover from a given source, a liquid tray having a series of openings therethrough, means for accumulating condensate from said evaporator and transferring it to said tray, means whereby air is circulated upwardly through said openings and then discharged out of communication with said source of air, and a defiector over one of said openings for redirecting the air flow therethrough downwardly into the liquid in said tray to force the liquid into the path of air flowing upwardly through an adjacent opening.

3. Air conditioning apparatus comprising, in combination, an evaporator, means for circulating air thereover from a given source, a liquid receptacle for receiving condensate from said evaporator and having a plurality of openings placed side by side with a liquid trough therebetween, means for forcefully circulating air upwardly through said openings and discharging the air to a point out of communication with said air source, and a delector disposed over one of said openings and projecting into said trough whereby air is redirected downwardly into said trough to displaceliquid therein and permit the displaced liquid to be carried away by the upwardly owing air through said openings.

4. Air conditioning apparatus comprising, in combination, an evaporator, means for circulating air thereover from a given source, a tray for receiving condensate from said evaporator and having a series of substantially parallel openings with a trough therebetween, means for forcefully circulating air upwardly through said openings and discharging the air to a point out of communication with said air source, and a deector disposed over one of said openings in spaced relation to the top thereof whereby air is directed laterally with respect to said opening to elfect agitation of liquid in said trough.

5. Air conditioning apparatus comprising, in combination, an evaporator, means for circulating air thereover from a given source, a tray for receiving condensate from said evaporator and having a series of openings therein and a liquid trough between said openings, means for forcefully circulating air upwardly through said openings and discharging the air to a point out of communication with said air source, and an inverted curved deiiector disposed over one of4 said openings with one edge of the defiector extending downwardly below the normal liquid level in said trough.

6. Air conditioning apparatus comprising, in combination, an evaporator, means for circulating air thereover from a given source, a receptacle for receiving condensate from said evapo- ,rator and having a series of openings therethrough with a liquid trough on each side of each opening, an inverted deiiector disposed over one of said openings in spaced relation to the top thereof and the edges of said deector being disposed in said adjacent troughs, means for forcefully circulating air upwardly through said openingy whereby the air is directed downwardly into said troughs to agitate liquid therein, and means for discharging said latter air flow to a point out of communication with said given air source.

7. Air conditioning apparatus comprising, in combination, an evaporator, means for circulating air thereover from a given source, a receptacle for receiving condensate from said evaporator and having a series of openings therethrough with a liquid trough on each side of each opening, an inverted deector disposed over one of said openings in spaced relation to the top thereof and the edges of said deiiector being disposed in said adjacent troughs, means for forcefully circulating air upwardly through said opening whereby the air is directed downwardly into said troughs to agitate liquid therein, other of said openings being free and unrestricted to permit a straight upward flow of air therethrough thereby to entrain the agitated liquid in the adjacent trough, yand means for discharging said latter air iiow to a point out of communication with said given air source.

8. Air conditioning apparatus comprising, in combination, an evaporator, means for circulating air thereover from a given source, a tray for receiving condensate from said evaporator and having a plurality of substantially parallel openings therethrough with liquid troughs therebetween, a deflector disposed over certain of said openings at opposite ends of said receptacle for redirecting air iiow into adjacent troughs while others of said openings are free and unrestricted, means for forcibly circulating air through all of said openings whereby said deectors cause a portion of said air to agitate the liquid in said adjacent troughs, and means for discharging the flow of air through said openings to a point out of communication with said given air source.

9. Air conditioning apparatus comprising, in combination, an evaporator, means for circulating air thereover from a given source, a receptacle for 'receiving condensate from said evaporator and having an air passage therethrough and a. trough adjacent the same, a deector for redirecting the air downwardly into said trough, a

5 screen disposed adjacent said deflector to permit air and water to pass therethrough, and means for forcibly circulating air through said passage and then discharging the air to a point out of communication with said given air source, whereby the liquid in said trough is agitated by the air flow through said passage and broken up as it passes through said screen.

10. Air conditioning apparatus comprising, in combination, an evaporator, means for circulating air thereover from a given source, a receptacle for receiving condensate from said evaporator and having a vertical opening therethrough and liquid troughs on each side thereof, a deector disposed over said opening for directing air downwardly into each of said troughs, a screen disposed over said deflector and in at least partial spaced relation thereto, and means for forcefully circulating air through said opening and then discharging air to a point out of communication with said given source, said air in iiowing under the lower edge of said deflector passing partly through said screen to carry water there with.

11. Air conditioning apparatus comprising, in combination, an evaporator, means for circulating air thereover from a given source, a receptacle for receiving condensate from said evaporator and having a vertical opening therethrough and liquid troughs on each side thereof, means for 35'orcefu1ly circulating air through said opening and discharging such air to a point different from that to which air passing over the evaporator is discharged, a semi-cylindrical deector disposed over said opening for directing said air flow therethrough downwardly into each of said troughs, a semi-cylindrical screen disposed over said deflector and'in at least partial spaced relation thereto whereby air flowing under the lower edge of said deflector may pass partly through said screen to carry water therewith.

12. Air conditioning apparatus comprising, in combination, a refrigerant condenser and evaporator, means for directing separate streams of air flow over said evaporator and condenser, a liquid tray disposed beneath said evaporator, and a second liquid tray disposed beneath said condenser and communicating with said other tray whereby liquid may flow between the same in either direction, each of said trays having openings therethrough with liquid troughs adjacent said openings and defiectors over certain of said openings in each tray for redirecting air ilow into said troughs to agitate water therein.

13. Air conditioning apparatus comprising, in combination, a condenser and evaporator, means for circulating room air over said evaporator and outside air over said condenser, means for collecting condensate from said evaporator, and means for discharging a stream of air directly into the condensate in said collecting means so as to forcefully atomize the condensate therein and carry the condensate away in the stream of air owing from said circulating means.

CHARLES R. NEESON. 

